The Trenton High School girls track and field team knew what it had in Kristi Ewing. The other eight athletes out, however, were a relative unknown.
After the Trenton Early Bird Relays on Thursday, the Bulldogs appear to be more than just a one-person show.
Ewing got some solid backing from her teammates and the Bulldogs netted 80 points, good for a third-place showing in a field of seven teams.
Ewing came up with 32 of Trenton’s points, a big day despite winning just one event. Ewing broke the tape in the 100-meter dash, winning with a time of 13.38. She was a half second behind Princeton’s Lauren Krohn in the 200-meter dash, however, finishing second with a time of 28.26. In the 400-meter dash, Ewing was second to Krohn again, placing runner-up with a time of 1:04.02.
Ewing rounded out her day in the long jump – another event won by Krohn. Ewing was third there with a jump of 3.88 meters.
Ewing’s teammates did a solid job producing points behind her, mainly the trio of Shay Westerhof, Gracyn Rongey and Ava Simpson.
Westerhof ran second to Ewing in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.59. She was third in the 200-meter dash, doing so with a time of 29.14. Those two finishes put 14 points on the board for the Bulldogs. Rongey tacked on 13 points with third place finishes in the 800-meter run (2:54.68) and the triple jump (8.74 meters) and a sixth-place showing in the 1,600-meter run (6:52.72).
Simpson was a few positions ahead of Rongey in the 1,600-meter run, finishing third with a time of 6:00.97. Simpson was third in the 3,200-meter run as well with a time of 13:44.02. Those two placings gave Simpson a 12-point effort at the meet.
Rounding out Trenton’s placewinners were Emma Roberts, fourth in the shot put with a throw of 8.98 meters; Mikensey Golden, fifth in the javelin with a throw of 24.64 meters and sixth in the shot put with a throw of 8.17 meters; and Morgan King, fifth in the discus with a throw of 22.73 meters.
Behind the three gold medals from Krohn — who was also second with Princeton’s 4×200-meter relay team — the Tigers won the meet title with 130 points. Brookfield was second with 106 points and Gallatin and Putnam County followed Trenton to round out the top five with 67 and 60 points respectively.
BOYS
Trenton’s boys scored 53 points at the Early Bird Relays, placing them fifth at the meet.
Kayden Spencer led the way for Trenton, winning the team’s lone gold medal and scoring a team-high 19 points at the meet. Spencer won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:23.82 and was second in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:18.65. Spencer also placed in the long jump, where he was sixth with a mark of 75 meters.
Right ahead of Spencer in the long jump and right behind him in team points provided was Coleman Griffin. Griffin was fifth in the long jump with a mark of 4.86 meters and scored 16 points on the day for the Bulldogs. Griffin added a second-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 10.17 meters and he was third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.38.
Dylan Spencer added nine points in the field, placing second in the discus with a throw of 35.46 meters and sixth in the shot put with a toss of 11.18 meters.
Other placewinners for the Trenton boys included Gabe Stark, fourth in the javelin with a throw of 30.6 meters; Gabe Novak, fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.97; Trevor Murphy, fifth in the shot put with a throw of 11.46 meters; and Levi Johnson, sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.34.
Putnam County ran away with the boys total, easily surpassing runner-up Brookfield’s total of 109.5 points with 152 of their own. Princeton was third with 96 points and Milan finished right in front of Trenton, taking fourth with 93 points.
Trenton’s track and field teams return to action today (Tuesday), traveling to Higginsville for the Hoefer-Husker Relays at 4 o’clock. Trenton will be in Chillicothe for the Joe Shy Relays on Thursday at 2 p.m.